The Detention to Community (DTC) study addresses several priority areas of the CJDATS collaborative. First, the study will adapt existing science-based interventions in order to develop specialized services that will address drug abuse, delinquency, and sexual risk-taking among juveniles detained in detention facilities. Second, the study proposes to test an innovative, phasic, multiple-systems intervention in which the in-detention work provides a platform for the adolescent's return to the community. This bridge is created by linking the... (more info)

The Detention to Community (DTC) study addresses several priority areas of the CJDATS collaborative. First, the study will adapt existing science-based interventions in order to develop specialized services that will address drug abuse, delinquency, and sexual risk-taking among juveniles detained in detention facilities. Second, the study proposes to test an innovative, phasic, multiple-systems intervention in which the in-detention work provides a platform for the adolescent's return to the community. This bridge is created by linking the in-detention and outpatient treatment components in ways that reflect the consensus in the literature regarding the need for integrative, comprehensive interventions for criminal justice involved, substance abusing individuals (Cook, 1992; Altschuler and Armstrong, 1999). The interventions meld public health and public safety concerns, and target members in multiple systems influential to a teen's developmental outcomes, including the adolescent's family and school, the judiciary, and treatment providers. Thus, they go beyond the fragmented, sometimes competitive treatment models too often seen in standard criminal justice and drug treatment settings (Belenko, 2000). Third, consistent with recommendations from the literature, NIDA has designated HIV/AIDS prevention in juvenile justice facilities as an urgent public health priority (NIDA, 2002). This
study would test a family-based HIV/AIDS prevention intervention in comparison to standard HIV prevention. Finally, the systems-change possibilities and public policy implications of the proposed study are high, because the study would examine processes and outcomes of implementing the intervention in the real world settings in which the findings are meant to apply -- juvenile detention centers and outpatient community-based drug treatment agencies that work with young offenders (Armstrong and Altschuler, 1998).

Special Collaborators on this study were the Midwest Research Center in Tampa, FL, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Florida Research Center in Miami, FL.

Methodology

Study Purpose:
The fundamental objective of the proposed study is to test the feasibility and effectiveness and
evaluate the relative and net benefit-cost of a cross-context multiple-systems family-based drug
and HIV/STD focused intervention (MDFT-CS) with substance abusing juvenile offenders in
detention and as they transition into the community upon release.

Study Design:
The study randomized consenting subjects into two treatment groups. One group was to receive MDFT-CS (Multidimensional Family Therapy - Cross Systems) and the other was to receive enhanced services as usual (ESAU). Treatment began in the first week of detention and ended four months after release. Assessment of subjects took place at five different points: Entry into detention, release from detention, three months after release, six months after release, and nine months after release. Assessment was conducted in the form of interview by trained assessors.

Sample:
Juveniles aged 13-17 were recruited from the Miami Juvenile Detention Center in Miami and the Pinellas County Detention Facility in Tampa. Criteria for participation in the study included informed consent, prior substance abuse, and the presence of at least one parent figure willing to participate in the study. Each site recruited 85 participants for a total sample size of 170.

Mode of Data Collection:
face-to-face interview,
mixed mode

Presence of Common Scales:
A variety of scales are employed at each assessment point in this study, please see Table 4, the Assessment and Instrumentation Table, on page 21 in the study manual for a detailed list.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection: